


Human

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Lance, Cancer, College AU, Enemies at First, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hospitals, Hunk is a good friend, Lance Has Cancer, Lance is an asshole omg, Lance speaks Spanish, Learning Disabilities, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Shiro is the best brother, Sickness, Slow Burn, Smut, Trans Keith (Voltron), Veeeery slow burn, a lot of insults, allura is the mom friend, angry keith, coran is a college professor, i love adam, keith is an asshole to lance in the beginning, non binary pidge, pidge is great
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-10 12:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15948941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith, a hotheaded, quiet, short, and passionate musician attends Garrison University and works at a nearby coffee shop. He’s a sophomore in college and he’s dorming. His roommate, Takashi Shirogane, who also happens to be his brother, recently graduated and moved out to a nearby apartment to live with his boyfriend. Keith gets a new roommate and he hates him from the second he meets him. He’s loud, all he listens to is soundtracks for broadway musicals, he uses face masks, his legs are long and his whole wardrobe is full of pink and blue. His name is Lance, Keith thought that was annoying too. This was until one day he noticed how cute it was. He started liking it.Lance thought Keith was mysterious. He thought he was interesting. He wanted to find out more, figure him out. Lance seemed like he had been hiding something, Keith wanted to know more.





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> watch this flop lol  
> this is shorter than keith’s temper sorry

_First day of sophomore year._

Keith sighed as Shiro and Adam helped him take his bags to his and Shiro’s dorm room - well now his dorm room. Shiro had just graduated from Garrison University and moved out of the dorm to live with his boyfriend, Adam. Keith couldn’t lie, he was upset about it. This was going to be the first time in his whole life he didn’t have his brother with him at all times, that made him anxious. All day he had been ignoring the anxiety bubbling up in the pit of his stomach. He was happy for Shiro, really, he was just going to miss him. Shiro did everything for him and everything with him, he just wasn’t ready to be on his own. 

Keith pouted as Shiro patted his back and Adam chuckled and put his hands on Keith’s shoulders proudly.

”Well, son, you’re here.” Adam joked and Keith rolled his eyes in a playful manner. Him and Adam were close, Shiro and Adam had been together for almost four years so Keith and Adam had a lot of time to bond. 

Shiro chuckled and he wrapped his arms around Keith’s shoulders. “Are you going to be okay on your own?” Shiro asked quietly. He was worried about Keith, genuinely. Keith had a habit of over working himself, he rarely ever slept due to his anxiety and he worked too much to distract himself from his own depression. Shiro worried about his brother a lot and now he wasn’t going to be there. There was going to be some random guy in here with him and he was worried that this person wouldn’t be as sympathetic and caring towards Keith as he was himself. He loved his brother and he just wanted him to be alright. Hopefully, Keith would finally learn to cope with his stressors healthily this year. Maybe instead of over working himself to distract himself from his pain he could watch Adventure Time, that seemed to make everything better most of the time. 

Keith thought for a second.  _Would he be fine?_ He didn’t really know. It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to be on his own, sure his best friend was right down the hall, but he didn’t want to always bug him. Plus, Hunk had enough to worry about in his own. He didn’t need Keith in and out of his room being anxious all the time on top of it. Keith thought he could handle himself. He’s old enough now, right? He was just about to turn 20 and he was sure that in this new year, he could improve himself. 

Keith nodded at his older brother and gave him a half smile. “I’ll be okay, Shiro.” he spoke quietly and surely. He gave into the hug his brother was sort of forcing him into and he wrapped his arms around his middle. Usually, Keith hated hugs. Only on occasion would he accept a hug from Hunk, Adam, or Shiro. He didn’t like hugs at all, Keith wasn’t a very affectionate human being. 

“I love you, Keith. Please, be careful. Adam and I are a 15 minute drive away if you need anything. Okay?” Shiro reminded him as he pulled back and Keith nodded, going to hug Adam as well. 

“Yeah, I love you guys. Get home safe.” Keith said and he watched his brother and Adam walk out of the door. Keith let out a breath as he turned back to face the bed and he began to unpack his stuff, putting them in the drawers on his half of the room and taking half of the closet for himself. He put his posters up on his wall, 5SOS and Panic! At The Disco filling the room. He turned to look at everything when he was done, smiling at his work then he changed out of his clothes and plopped down on the bed. Keith put his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. 

_Maybe I should add glow stars. Wait, that’s not punk rock, let’s not._

Keith thought to himself. He laid on his side and he shut his eyes, wanting to take a nap before he met his new roommate. 

~

About two hours into his nap, he was awoken by the door being opened and a quiet “Hello? Anybody here?” He didn’t recognize the voice.  _Oh, that might be my new roommate. Great, I have to speak to them._ Keith thought to himself and he groaned sitting up. 

“Hello?” Keith spoke back in a grumpy and raspy voice.

The boy walked through the door, set his bags on the bed, and smiled brightly at Keith, holding his hand out.

”I’m Lance.”

Keith examined the boy. His skin was tan and smooth, he had absolutely no blemishes at all. He had freckles dusting his cheeks and nose and he had short brown hair. His brown eyes were big and his eyelashes were long against his cheeks. Keith noticed that he was extremely tall. And when he said extremely, he meant  _extremely._ Keith was about 5’4” or so, he was pretty short. But this guy? He was like 5’10” or something!  _That’s huge!_

Keith accepted the handshake and he offered the boy the friendliest smile he could fathom, being as he wasn’t the friendliest person in the world.

”Keith. I left half of the closest empty for you.” 

Lance nodded. “That’s cool.” He smiled widely and Keith nodded back.

Lance began talking to him, saying anything he could think of and Keith was growing more and more irritated by the second.

”-and Pidge! She’s also a freshman year she just moved in and she’s rooming with this guy named Hunk? I didn’t even know males and females could form together and-“

”Hunk’s my best friend.” Keith simply stated and Lance let out a soft ‘oh’.

”Lance, you’re cool and all, but I’m like super tired, can I please like, take a nap?” Keith grumbled and he had an irritated expression across his face. Lance took this as a “shut the fuck up” face and he nodded.

”O-oh um. Sure, man.” 

And with that, Keith laid on his side and went back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk goes to bother Keith. He brings Pidge along because he heard Lance was dorming with Keith. Keith hates people, but Hunk is the exception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just read a really sad hamilton fanfic and i’m really sad now lmao help  
> this is a short filler chapter before i get the real plot going

Keith was awoken from his nap from a knock on the door. He grumbled something under his breath before he heard Lance say “I’ll get it!” in an overly enthusiastic voice. Keith just nodded and buried his face back into the pillow. He didn’t understand how Lance was so happy all the time. He’d known him for literally an hour and Lance had already talked his ear off. It was sort of insane. The most energetic person he was used to being around was Hunk, and Hunk was pretty calm. 

“Keith! Buddy!” Keith’s head perked up and the sound of his best friend’s voice and he sat up, rubbing his eyes and running his hand through his messy bed-head. Keith noticed a girl with short brown hair and glasses appear behind Hunk and he raised an eyebrow, as if to ask who she is. “Oh! This is Pidge, she’s my roommate. There were no more female dorms, and they were about to make her not dorm with anybody until she argued with them because she’s a lesbian and ‘wouldn’t fuck her male roommate and doesn’t mind if she’s dorming with a guy.’” Hunk laughed at the last part, making Pidge chuckle as well. 

“I’m actually ace, but I really didn’t feel like explaining that to the dorm advisors.” She shrugged and reached her hand out to shake Keith’s. 

Keith offered a side smile and shook her hand. “I’m Keith.” He spoke sleepily and he got up. “I’m going to brush my teeth, I’ll be out in a second.” Keith headed into the bathroom and he sighed, looking at his pale skin in the mirror. Over the summer, he hadn’t gotten much of a tan. Keith literally went to the beach twice this summer, both times he was  _literally_ dragged out by his feet by Shiro, Hunk, and Adam.  _It wasn’t fun._ Keith liked the beach, he did. But he wore a full body wet-suit when he went because he was insecure and really didn’t want to show himself or any of his scars. 

Keith brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth, washed his face, then put on some moisturizer and went back out into the room seeing Hunk and Pidge sitting on Lance’s bed with him as they all talked. Keith sighed and sat on his own bed, earning a confused look from Lance.

”Come on, man! Don’t be a debby downer.” Lance joked and Keith sighed and moved to sit on Lance’s bed. As the trio spoke, Keith didn’t really say much. Hunk didn’t really question it, he knew how Keith was and he knew he didn’t warm up to new people so quickly. Lance, on the other hand, thought he was just being an asshole. He was starting to dislike this  _Keith_ kid. Pidge understood, she was the same way as Keith not too long ago. She had to push it away for college. She understood that maybe he just couldn’t do it and just was too afraid of being social. 

Keith snuck in a few small witty remarks here and there, earning giggles from Pidge and Hunk but eye rolls from Lance. Lance mumbled something in Spanish under his breath and Pidge chuckled at him.

“Lance slips between languages a lot, it’s entertaining to me.” She explained and Hunk let out an ‘oh’ and Keith just nodded. They spent a few hours getting to know each other and Keith began to actually speak to each of them, even Lance (though, he didn’t like Lance much for whatever reason.)

When Pidge and Hunk left the room to be in their own dorm at around 9, Keith went back to lay on his bed and Lance scoffed at him quietly. 

Keith picked his head up and he glanced at him. “What?” 

Lance thought Keith was rude, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like rude people, therefore he didn’t like Keith.

”Eres grosero.” Lance muttered and turned over on his side and Keith raised an eyebrow. Keith didn’t even bother to question it, he just laid back down and ignored him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me  
> twit: kvrishma  
> insta: kvrishmaxo  
> also i cant speak spanish, correct my spanish if i type anything wrong i used a translator oops


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith learns that he doesn’t like Lance at all and he doesn’t know if he’d ever want to be friends with him.  
> Lance likes to tease him.  
> Sexual tension.  
> There’s a bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for being patient with me because i have school and i’m not able to update as much )): love y’all  
> also i changed the title from Heart Out to Rewrite The Stars because the greatest showman has my whole fucking heart

During Keith’s calculus lecture, he learned that  _he absolutely hates Lance._

Lance was  _always_ trying to one up him. If Keith answered a question right, Lance had to answer three questions right. If Keith got a good grade on his exam, Lance tried to get a higher one. Fuck, if Keith even grew an inch Lance would always reinforce the fact that he was  _a god damn tree._ So yeah, Keith really didn’t like him. He hated show offs and frankly, Lance was a fucking show off. He put Keith down for absolutely everything he did and just made him feel shitty  _constantly._ Keith couldn’t put a finger on what the fuck he did to make Lance hate him, but to be fair, he was a bit of an asshole to Lance when they first met.  _Maybe this was he universe’s way of getting him back._ Honestly, he was kind of mad about it. Lance really was an asshole to him and he hated it a lot, he suddenly regretted not being nice to him when he moved into his dorm.

**_2 weeks ago_ **

_Lance and Keith were both in their dorm rooms studying, quietly. Keith was practicing some formulas for calculus, he was having a hard time focusing because he had forgotten to take his ADHD medicine that day and he really couldn’t pay attention. His mind kept wandering off, he wasn’t being focused. On top of this, he had anxiety due to the class already, so his mind was preoccupied. Keith started tapping his pencil against his book and he kept moving around on the bed, in the end causing a lot of ruckus as he tried to focus himself._

_”Dude, shut the fuck up.” Lance mumbled and Keith raised his head and glared at him._

_“I can’t focus.”_

_“That’s not my problem.” Lance rolled his eyes at Keith and he mumbled. “Estupido.” under his breath._

_Keith felt his blood boiling and he growled under his breath and Lance let out a laugh. “Don’t be mad because you’re dumb and can’t do math.” Lance laughed again and Keith gripped his pencil so hard it snapped in his hand._

_”Can you shut your mouth for two god damn seconds?” Keith asked, his voice getting all high pitched from anger._

_Lance shrugged and he rolled his eyes at sleigh then went back to his work._

_Keith was furious, he was tired of Lance thinking he was everything. He still didn’t say anything. Lance’s words rang through his ears._

_‘Don’t be mad because you’re dumb and can’t do math. Don’t be mad because you’re dumb and can’t do math. Don’t be mad because you’re dumb and can’t do math.’_

_Keith groaned under his breath and he stood up on shaky legs._

_“Where are you going?”_

_Keith didn’t turn around to answer, he grabbed his car keys and headed to the parking lot. He was so fucking tired of this and now he was going to have an anxiety attack. He put the keys in the ignition and drove as fast tin Shiro’s apartment as he could before having an anxiety attack._

**_Present day_ **

Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and Pidge’s friend Allura were all sitting in the cafe in their dorm building, just catching up on things. Keith had met Allura and instantly loved her; she was calm and collected, sweet, funny, extremely smart (like, merit scholar smart), and she was compassionate and caring. Pidge met Allura through her older brother Matt, Matt and Allura were best friends and turns out Allura also knew Shiro.

Just another reason to love her.

Keith yawned and rubbed his eyes, then went to pull his hair up in a ponytail. Just as he did so, he felt his hair tie being pulled from his fingertips and he turned around quickly, wanting to see who it was.

”Give it back, Mcclain.” Keith crumbled under his breath, seriously not wanting to deal with his shit this early in the morning. Keith had decided he truly hated Lance since what happened two weeks ago, he didn’t want to deal with him he thought he was going to punch him at a point. Lance chuckled and shook his head, keeping the hair tie on his wrist. 

“No thanks, rojito.” he shrugged and Keith narrowed his eyes at him.

_”rojito?”_

”Well, yeah.” Lance shrugged. “You’re little, and you have red on.” 

Keith suddenly felt the need to look down and he examined his outfit. He had on black jeans, a black shirt, and a red cropped jacket. He sighed and debated with himself on arguing with Lance. in the end, he decided not to in the end.

”Pidge, scrunchie.”

Pidge happily obliged and gave the scrunchie to Keith; Lance noticed that was red as well.

” _Rojito._ ”

”I’m not little, fuck off.”

”No, I’ll fuck on.”

”What the fuck does that mean?” Keith squeaked and Lance laughed.

”Little.”

”Am not!”

”Are too!”

”How much do you want to bet that they’re going to fuck soon?” Pidge whispered to Hunk and Hunk laughed softly at her and whispered “$15.” back to her.

Keith, however, did not find this funny. He glared at Hunk who laughed even more and put his hands up in defense. “Sorry!”

”I have a class soon. I’ll catch y’all later.”

Keith got up and he turned on his heel; even his actions were angry. He walked away and Lance chuckled. 

 _“Rojito is southern._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me  
> ig: kvrishma  
> twit: kvrishmaxo


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith hates people.  
> Secrets.  
> Dysphoria.  
> TW! panic attacks!! and dysphoria!!!  
> lance feels bad.  
> Pidge is non binary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so bad i’m so sorry  
> i also have no fucking clue how college works i’m sorry lmfao  
> i also changed the title again sorry  
> also i hinted something at the start and you find out halfway through.

Keith headed to his music lecture, still feeling angry about Lance. He didn’t  _want_ to speak to him. He decided that he really and truly hated Lance. He didn’t like his  _stupid_ long legs or his  _dumb_ big ears. He didn’t like his  _horribly_ large hands or his  _stupid goofy_ smile. He thought they were cute, yeah, but he didn’t like them. Nope, not one bit. He wanted to trip Lance down a flight of stairs and maybe break his elbow. Keith wouldn’t care if he broke his elbow, he would just think that it’s funny. He didn’t like Lance and he couldn’t put a finger on why. Maybe it was because he was so stupidly happy 24/7. He had never been around anyone like that, besides Hunk, but even Hunk was down sometimes. Keith was shocked that he literally  _never_ saw Lance sad or anxious or anything of the sort. He questioned if he even felt emotions. Keith felt too many emotions, at this point he decided to just mask it. He knew he looked and acted like a robot without emotions, but it was fine. Nobody needed to know that he cried a lot. Nobody besides Hunk, Shiro, and Adam. 

Keith sat quietly throughout his whole music lecture, trying to calm himself from the anger he felt. For some reason, he didn’t feel anxious this time, he just felt angry. Keith scribbled little doodles into his notebook with his pen, still paying attention to his professor and participating here and there. After this lecture, he had his crimes against humanity lecture.  _ugh._ Keith thought. Wasn’t one history lecture enough? Keith got up when the lecture was over and he gathered his things, heading through his _college_ campus to the other lecture. Lance was in this class,  _great._ He remembered the professor mentioning something about a debate happening today, he wasn’t having it. He knew Lance was going to call him out and get him all riled up. 

As people piled into the room, Keith sighed. He sat down in his seat and took his things out of his bag, crossing his ankles over each other under the table. He shook his leg and waited for the professor to come into the room. He stared at the door and as he did so, Lance strode in with his stupid long legs.  _Great._

Keith huffed and rolled his eyes, trying to avoid eye contact with him but Lance knocked his stuff off of his desk and Keith growled. “Can you fucking not?”

”Boys, boys!” Professor Coran spoke and Lance sat down. “The debate hasn’t even begun, so just sit down and relax.” 

Lance chuckled and rolled his eyes in an irritating way. “Yes, sir. You heard ‘em, rojito.”

Keith frowned.

As the debate started, Keith learned that the debate was about LGBT+ rights which was something he felt very strongly about. He was part of the community in two ways, Keith was gay and he was trans. So, he had a lot to say. He raised his hand to ask if he could participate in the debate and the floor was opened up to him. 

Keith began speaking about why it’s a good thing to have LGBT+ rights and why it’s a good thing to have a month dedicated to the LGBT+ community. As he did so, some asshole named James Griffin started arguing. 

“I don’t think there should be a  _month_ dedicated to LGBT+ people. There’s really no point!” He spoke and he glared at Keith. “There are more important things in life that should have a whole month dedicated to.” 

“First of all, James,” Keith began. “Learn how to speak with proper grammar before coming into a debate.” He spoke sassily and he heard  _oohs_ coming from the rest of the class. “Second of all, the LGBT+ community has a month dedicated to it to bring awareness to it and shine light onto the discrimination and abuse that people in the community are faced with. You don’t think it’s good that people have a month dedicated to help people understand why their sexuality and gender isn’t a problem?” Keith questioned and he heard claps erupting from the class.

Lance stared in shock. 

James chuckled and shook his head. “Why, Keith? Why should they have a month? To show people how abnormal it is?” He asked and he crossed his arms. “Just because you’re gay and look like a girl doesn’t mean that everybody should support that.” 

Keith’s mouth dropped open in shock and he felt anxiety rising in his stomach. He went to speak but he couldn’t, all he could bring himself to do was grab his stuff and run as fast as he could. 

_Youlooklikeuagirlyoulooklikeagirlyoulooklike_

_agirlyoulooklikeagirl_

_that’s the only thing that was running through_ Keith’s _head._

He was not a boy.

He was a girl according to the rest of the world. 

He felt himself starting to hyperventilate, Keith felt his chest tighten up. He started to breathe heavily and his knees gave out as he was halfway at his dorm. Keith collapsed on the ground, clutching at his chest and scratching at his binder over his shirt and he began to pant. Keith began to sob, he began to shake like there was no tomorrow. Keith couldn’t stop, he was sobbing so hard he literally threw up on the ground. Before he knew what was happening, he felt strong arms picking him up and he began thrashing in the person’s arms.

”Put me down, put me down!” He yelled and he heard concerned voices but everything was being drowned out and he couldn’t tell what was happening.

”I need you to breathe, please Keith.” 

Keith could vaguely register the voice as Hunk and he stopped thrashing and he just continued to sob as they made it into Keith’s dorm. 

 _“L-look like a g-girl.”_ Keith got out between sobs and he began to choke again and Pidge ran to the bathroom and grabbed the garbage can so he could throw up in it. 

Lance was in the room as well, he didn’t know what was going on. Pidge couldn’t tell either, they didn’t know why he was panicking over being called a girl.

”Keith, you have to take it off.”

”No!” Keith yelled at Hunk and Hunk carried him to the bathroom and sat with him on the ground.

Hunk has dealt with Keith’s panic attacks too many times. He knew exactly how to deal with them. 

“Keith-“

”No!” He screamed and Hunk cupped his cheeks and then pulled him into his chest. 

“For me?” Hunk whispered and Keith kept crying as Hunk helped him out of his shirt and helped him unclip his binder. Immediately, Keith felt his rib cage relax but he was still sobbing. Hunk took off his hoodie and put it around keith, zipping it up for him and helped him out of the bathroom. Hunk sat on the bed with Keith in his lap, whispering things in his ear.

”You are Keith Kogane. You live in New York city and you share a room with Lance Mcclain. You are a 19 year old male, you are 5’4” and you have black hair.”

Keith began softly repeating everything Hunk said to him and his breating started to slow down.

”Tell me who’s in the room.” Hunk whispered and Keith looked around.

”L-Lance Mc-Mclain and-and P-Pidge Hol-Holt.” Keith got out between hiccups and he rested his head back againsg Hunk’s chest. Keith felt his whole body shutting down slowly and he couldn’t really register what was happening anymore, but he was still awake. Keith slowly felt his eyes shut and his breathing slowed down and Hunk sighed, laying him on the bed. 

“What the fuck just-“

”Gender dysphoria, Keith is transgender.” Pidge spoke and Hunk raised an eyebrow. 

“How could you-“

”I’m transgender non-binary. I go by any pronouns, I don’t care.” She shrugged. “I know what it’s like to hate the body you were born in and how badly it hurts to know it’s not cheap or easy to change.”

Lance sat there with his mouth agape. “I-is there anything else that we don’t know about Keith? I’ve been mean to him a lot and now I feel bad-“

”He doesn’t like you because you call him stupid for not being able to do math. Keith has dyslexia.” Pidge pushes her glasses up her nose.

Lance raised his eyebrow. “How do you know?”

”He told me that he is, he told me last week.”

”Keith hasn’t had it easy, try to be nicer with him. He doesn’t like to let people in.” Hunk whispered and ran his hand through Keith’s hair. “He thinks that the more people he lets in, the easier it is for them to leave him.” 

Lance felt  _horrible._ Maybe he would be kind to him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me  
> insta: kvrishmaxo  
> twit: kvrishma


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith have a real conversation after Keith’s panic attack due to his dysphoria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made keith trans ? my cousin suggested it and i thought about it for like 3 hours and decided to write it in and yeah i hope the chapter was okay??? idk if i wrote chapter 4 well enough pls tell me if anything was offensive or if anything should be changed thank u !

Keith was laying awake at 3 am, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. He couldn’t sleep, he had fallen asleep after his panic attack and woke up around 2 and he couldn’t sleep

Keith tossed and turned in his bed, wondering if he should even show up to that lecture in the morning. He didn’t  _want_ to. He didn’t want to see Griffin. He felt like he was going to punch him in the nose if he saw him. 

It was late, but Keith was debating going to see Shiro. He felt like Shiro was the only person he wanted to see at the moment and he really just needed a hug from his big brother at the moment. Keith got up, only now noticing he was wearing Hunk’s hoodie and he smiled softly and then rubbed his eyes. Keith went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth then checked the time. “Huh, 3:30.” he mumbled to himself and then he grabbed his jeans from the ground, putting them on. He put his hair in a ponytail, then headed out of the bathroom. Keith heard a groan and he looked over at Lance’s bed. “Shit.” he mumbled, noticing he woke up Lance. 

“Kogane?” Lance grumbled and he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “It’s like, the middle of the night. Where are you going?” Lance asked, half awake. 

Keith turned around and he looked at Lance in his 3 am, bedhead glory. He bit his lip and looked away, trying not to stare at the boy sitting on the bed. He hadn’t noticed because he and Lance were constantly bickering, but Lance was kind of..  _cute?_

Gross, no. He did  _not_ just call Lance cute. He made a mental note to never mention that to Hunk or Pidge, like ever. 

“‘M gonna see Shiro.” Keith mumbled back and he shifted his weight onto one leg, rubbing his arm.

Lance stared at him for a second. “You okay, Keith?” he whispered quietly and he got up from the bed, walking over to Keith.

Well, obviously, Keith was not okay. But Lance didn’t nees to know that. 

Keith nodded and he looked away from him. “‘M fine. Just wanna see Shiro.” He muttered, still feeling tired from his panic attack and just wanting to get out of this room. 

Lance sighed and he looked at him with tired eyes. “You shouldn’t drive when you’re anxious like this.” He crossed his arms over his chest in a motherly manner and Keith rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t care-“

”If I let you go out and something happens, Hunk will murder me. Just stay, okay?” Lance looked down at the short boy in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Keith thought for a second and he looked down, wanting to avoid eye contact. “‘Kay.” he whispered, not wanting to really argue, he was too tired to put up a fight. Keith pulled himself out of Lance’s grip that was on his shoulder and he went to the bathroom, changing back into his sweatpants, then went into the room again. Keith walked over to his bed and flopped face first down onto the comforter, shutting his eyes. 

“What happened earlier?” Lance asked Keith, genuinely wondering. He was really confused, he couldn’t exactly tell what was going on. He was worried, scared for Keith’s sake. He knew that he and Keith weren’t the best of friends, or friends at all, but he still wanted him to be okay mentally and physically. 

Keith turned his head, looking at Lance from his bed and he noticed Lance was facing him as well. Keith shook his head and ran a hand through his own hair, messing the ponytail up. 

“‘s not important, don’t worry.”

Lance sighed and he stared at him. “It’s very important, Keith. What happened?” He asked and Keith shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to think about it again.

“Griffin called me a-a girl.” Keith mumbled and squeezed his hands into a fist. “I-I’m not a girl, I try not to sound like or look like one and-and I haven’t been thinking about it much.” Keith took a deep breath. “I’ve been focusing so much on my school work and losing sleep over it so that I don’t have to think about the fact that I’m not a boy and I never will be.” Keith felt his voice crack and he inhaled sharply. “Why are we talking about this?” He asked, his voice high. 

Lance stared at Keith with a sympathetic look and he got up, walked towards his bed, then sat on the ground next to his bed and took his hand. “You’re a boy in my eyes, an obnoxious one at that.”

Keith snorted at that. 

“I’ve been on T for 5 years.” 

“Testosterone shots?”

”No, tea bags.” Keith rolled his eyes, Lance giggled. 

“Is that why you don’t sleep until ungodly hours of the night?” Lance wondered aloud and Keith nodded.

”That and I’m afraid of falling behind in my work.” Keith whispered and Lance nodded. 

“W-well, if it makes you feel any better I have really bad anxiety too.” Lance mumbled and Keith nodded.

”Sucks.”

”It does.”

They sat in silence for about ten minutes before Keith spoke up.

”I’m sorry I’m such a grump towards you, I’m a grump in general. I hate people.” Keith admitted. Well, it wasn’t that he hated them. He was scared, scared because his parents were dead, scared because so many people betrayed and left him. He was afraid that more people would leave. He decided that the less people you let into your life, the less you get hurt because the less they leave. Keith didn’t have a positive outlook on trust, he didn’t trust people besides Hunk, Adam, and Shiro. He was surprised he was opening up to Lance, maybe it was because he was tired.

Lance chuckled and he kept Keith’s hand in his. “I don’t think you hate people, I think you’re scared of them.” Keith hummed at that and he yawned softly.

”’M not scared. People are scared of me.” Keith mumbled, starting to fall asleep.

”Keep telling yourself that, short stuff.” Lance smiled softly and then he got up. Keith whines when Lance’s hand left his, completely losing every trace of control because of how tired he was. 

“Stay,” Keith mumbled and he reached out for Lance’s hand. “Until I fall asleep.” 

Lance’s cheeks turned pink and he nodded, walking over to Keith and then he sat down beside the bed again, grabbing the smaller boy’s hand in his own and holding it gently. “Sleep.”

Keith kept his eyes shut and he slowly drifted off to sleep, his grip on Lance’s hand loosening. Keith’s breaths slowed and his chest slowly rose and fell as he fell into a steady sleep and Lance felt his eyes shut as well, falling asleep against Keith’s bed while holding his hand. 

The last thing Lance thought before he fell asleep was how soft Keith’s hand was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> talk to me :-)  
> twit: kvrishma  
> insta: kvrishmaxo


	6. chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wakes up and his arm is asleep and his back hurts  
> and he’s holding Keith’s hand?  
> A slight friendship is established.  
> Keith is a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! sorry i’ve been dead, school takes a lot out of my mental health LMFAO but i’m here now!

Lance woke with a sharp pain in his neck, groaning softly as he moved it. He tried to move his arm, but it was completely numb. He pulled it back quickly, holding it straight to get the blood flowing and he rubbed his eye with his other hand.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows when he looked forward, realizing he was on he floor facing his bed. ”What?” Lance thought aloud and he turned his head as best as he could, seeing a sleeping Keith on the bed that he was against. Lance shook his head, recalling the events of early this morning. He must’ve fallen asleep against the bed while holding Keith’s hand without even realizing it. Lance’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink now realizing that he held Keith’s hand all night and Keith didn’t even protest it.

It was then when he heard a groan from above him and something hit his head. ”Ow.” Lance grumbled and Keith mumbled a quiet “Sorry” back. ”I moved my foot and it hit you, sorry.” Keith yawned and he rubbed his eye then paused for a second, processing this. Keith opened his mouth to speak. “Why are you on the floor beside-“

”I fell asleep here after comforting you, that’s it.” Lance spoke sleepily and got up to lay on his own bed. He laid facing Keith and Keith was facing him as well. Keith felt kind of bad, he basically made Lance sleep beside his bed just because he was feeling a bit anxious. He was trying to think of a way to make it up to him. He didn’t like having people worry about him, he felt like a burden and always felt like he had to make it up.

Well, Lance did mention something earlier about really loving pancakes. Neither of them had a lecture until about 4 pm.. Keith sat up and swung his legs over the bed. “Let’s go to iHop.” he stated and Lance raised an eyebrow.

“iHop? Why? Do you even have-“

”Yes I have money, I have a job off campus. Now come on.” Keith rushed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and his hair. He couldn’t believe he was actually taking Lance out for breakfast. It was really just for an apology, but he still didn’t like him. (He totally did, he just didn’t want to admit to himself that he wanted to be friends with Lance.)

Keith washed and moisturized his face, heading out of the bathroom and he let Lance go into the bathroom as he changed his clothes. ”Don’t come out yet” Keith called from outside and Lance mumbled “Okay.” Keith took Hunk’s sweatshirt off and then grabbed his binder from his drawer, changing into it. He put on deodorant and grabbed his favorite gray tee shirt and pulled it on. Keith put on a pair of black ripped skinny jeans and a red zip up hoodie and then tied his hair in a bun. “Kay, you can come out now.” When Keith said that, Lance came out of the bathroom and told Keith to turn the opposite way so he could change.

After Lance did so, Keith grabbed his car keys and they both put on their shoes and left the dorm room.

———

Keith and Lance walked side by side, their usual banter filling the air between them. ”You look emo.” Lance teased and Keith jabbed him with his finger, earning a quiet “ow.”

”And you look like cookie monster.” ”Hey,” Lance crossed his arms and pouted. “I love cookie monster.” Keith crossed his arms and stood in front of him, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Did you just say-“ Lance closed his eyes and he looked away.

“Shut up.”

”You’re dumb.”

”You’re dumber.” Keith rolled his eyes and he got into the driver’s seat, Lance getting into the passenger seat.

“I should’ve brought a helmet in case you’re a shitty driver.” Lance smirked and Keith glared at him. “Shut the fuck up.”

———

Keith was a better driver than Lance cared to admit. They got to iHop smoothly and safely, both of them hopping out of the car when Keith parked. They both headed into the iHop, Keith putting his name down and then they waited about 15 minutes before being called. They were led to a table and they sat opposite each other, immediately starting up a conversation. ”You seriously do look emo.” Lance smirked and Keith crumbled up a piece of his napkin and threw it at Lance’s face.

”And I seriously don’t care about your opinion.” Keith scoffed and Lance pouted.

”Don’t be a meanie.” Lance spoke childishly and Keith couldn’t help but admit to himself that it was kind of _cute._

Keith was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice. ”Keith!” Keith turned his head and his cheeks turned pink when he saw his brother and his boyfriend sitting a few tables away. Keith hid his face and he groaned before getting up and mumbling “I’ll be back.” to Lance.

He walked over to Shiro and Adam’s table and grumbled “why are you here?” Shiro chuckled and rolled his eyes. “To eat breakfast, silly, duh.” He laughed and Keith glared at him, making Shiro out his hands up in defense. “I see you’re here with Lance.” Shiro teased and Adam swatted him on the arm playfully.

“Don’t tease him.” ”I do what I want?” Adam raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Because last time-“ ”I don’t wanna hear it.” Keith cringed and he gave his brother a hug and then hugged adam.

“Just- I brought Lance out for breakfast as an apology for being a huge meanie, that’s all.” Keith explained an Shiro nodded, not really buying it.

“Alright. Have fun on your date- not date.” He smirked and Keith rolled his eyes walking back. Keith was grumbling something under his breath when he got back to the table. Lance looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

”Was that your-“ ”Yes, my brother and his boyfriend. They think we’re dating- well no,” Keith went to correct himself. “My brother thinks we are, his boyfriend, however, does not. I love him for that.” He rolled his eyes but Lance could see the fondness in his expression. Lance smiled softly at him, suddenly feeling like he wanted to hear more about Keith. Lance leaned his elbows on the table and put his chin in his hands.

“You seem close with your bother.” He spoke softly and Keith looked to the side, nodding and biting his lip. Keith inhaled and then looked at Lance. “He raised me.” He mumbled and Lance raised an eyebrow. “We were in and out of foster families for our whole lives- our parents died when we were young-“ Keith cleared his throat. “Shiro and I only really had each other, we never grew attached to our foster families.” Keith gave Lance a soft smile and looked down, shaking his head and chuckling. “Shiro is my best friend.” He smiled. “When he turned 18, he legally became my guardian and he started to care for himself and I, he got a job and stuff along with being in college and that’s when he met Adam. They’ve been together since they were 18. Shiro’s loves him since they were 18.” Keith looked up and Lance grinned.

” _I have loved you since we were 18.._ ” Lance sang softly and Keith’s jaw dropped.

”Y-you like One Direction too?” Keith smiled widely and Lance nodded excitedly. Lance snorted.

“Your emo ass likes one direction?” Keith rolled his eyes playfully.

“Shut up,” he laughed and Lance’s heart skipped a beat. “Tell me about your family, Lance.”

Lance let out a breath he had been holding in-he wasn't sure why.

"Well, I have 5 siblings, Veronica, Anthony, Vanessa, Daniel, and James." Lance began and he clasped his hands together. He went to keep speaking, but a waitress came up to them to take their orders for drinks and for their meals. Lance gave the waitress both of their menus and then continued to speak. "My mamá, she's the best person in my life." Lance smiled fondly. "She's so sweet, she's so caring. Mamá was always there for me, she has always been the most supportive. When-" Lance paused, deciding if he should say this or not. "When I, um, came out, papá wasn't the happiest. Mamá sat down with him for hours and explained the concept of bisexuality to him. She was the reason he understood me, she was the reason my very, very conservative Christian Latino family didn't hate me." Lance smiled softly and looked down, remembering how his mother cried when he came out and how she said she'd love him even if he loved men. He remembered being hit by his father for it, he remembered his mother kicking him out for the night. He remembered his mom sitting down for nights at a time, speaking to his father about his sexuality. "I-I was really sick for a period of time and my mom was," he breathed softly. "She was a fighter. She would wake up at 5, get everybody ready for school, make everyone's lunch- including my dad's- then drive everyone to school, go to my school and get my school work, come to the hospital and feed me then teach me my schoolwork." Lance smiled, remembering how despite how tired she was, she always tried her best for her family.

Keith whistled. "That's fucking insane. I want to meet your mom, she raised such a great guy like you, she truly sounds amazing." He smiled, genuinely meaning it. Lance blushed and looked away.  _Awh, cute._ Keith thought to himself. "If you don't mind me asking," Keith leaned closer. "What were you sick with?"

Lance paused. Should he say it? He wasn't sure, he didn't know if he wanted to. Keith wouldn't see him differently, but it was so sensitive to him, especially because he had just gone into remission, but he wasn't free. Lance decided to just say it.

"Leukemia. I-um- I have leukemia."

Keith's mouth dropped open when he saw how quiet Lance got. "I-I'm so-"

"Don't." Lance smiled. "Don't apologize. We're friends, friend's share things, right?" 

Keith felt his heart skip a beat. 

"Right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> talk to me!  
> insta: kvrishmaxo  
> twit: kvrishma

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me  
> twit: kvrishmaxo  
> insta: kvrishma


End file.
